


Busted

by provencepuss



Series: Busted Dusted Rusted [1]
Category: Starsky & Hutch
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-30
Updated: 2013-06-30
Packaged: 2017-12-16 16:11:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/863984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/provencepuss/pseuds/provencepuss





	Busted

 

 

 

** Busted...a post Sweet Revenge tale  **

 

 As the morphine induced cloud cleared Starsky took stock of the situation. The pain was intense; burning its way through his body, curling hot fingers round his raw and jangling nerves, flowing into his bloodstream and invading every inch of his body. He had never known pain like it; and god knows he had been there before. The last time, after the initial terrifying numbness, the pain had been concentrated in his leg. But this time it was dominating his forces and nailing him to the bed as sure as the cast and the traction apparatus had held him down before.

 

Most men would have let themselves go out there in the parking lot; but not Starsky. His will to live was too deeply ingrained in his every moment. He had a job to do; a father’s death to avenge over and over until he could fight no more. The fight wasn’t over yet. He’d made it through before and he was going to do it again. He knew what he would have to do. A white shadow hovered, his angel of relief released the next dose into the tube. He closed his eyes and let the morphine drift him back on its ebbing tide to a place where his body could recover its strength.

 

It took two months of miserable patience before he was allowed out of the hospital. He sat back in the wheelchair grinning like a fool as Hutch pushed him past the nurses standing in a kind of guard of honor to bid farewell to the courageous young man who had pulled through despite all the evidence that he shouldn’t. He sat with the crutches on his lap and stared ahead as the doors slid open.  He couldn’t hold back the tears. She was there, waiting for him.  The Torino showed no signs of her own wounds. He turned to smile at Hutch. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me; thank Merle and Huggy and Al and Harvey.” Hutch said with a grin. “I wanted it painted black” Starsky threw the joke back without thinking. “Nah; I’ll always be a rolling stone, buddy.”

 

*************

 

 

They worked together like nothing had changed. Except that so much had changed. Hutch was behind a desk or on the streets and Starsky was working from home. Officially, of course, he was on the sick list; but in reality, still protected by his own private cloud, he was the coordinator of all the information that Hutch was bringing in. Together they were building the rock solid case for the DA to bring before the Grand Jury. Hutch had already brought Gunther in and the man was till trying to exercise his influence from the confines of his cell in the County Jail. That was a small victory in itself. As the threads of Gunther’s empire were untwined revealing a range of federal offences the DA had prevailed to keep the principal charge against Gunther himself apart. He was in the CountyJail without bail following formal charges of conspiracy to murder one, attempted murder one, resisting arrest and attempted assault of a police officer.

Starsky read the charge sheet and smiled. “I’m not the only one who’s busted.”

 

And he _was_ busted; broken but not bowed. His injuries had left him weakened and vulnerable to the slightest setback. He was prey to pain and depression; to transient paralysis of the body and, it seemed to him sometimes, the mind. The solution was easily available and he had no compunction in turning to it; but he had to keep it from Hutch. He couldn’t face Hutch’s fear in the face of his own worst enemy and Starsky’s new-found old friend.

The doctors didn’t worry about the prescriptions. Starsky’s record showed that he was a non-addictive type. Like many of his fellow conscripts he had found refuge from the boredom and routine of the jungle in the sweet smoke of a joint. His injuries needed strong pain relief and he showed no counter-indications to morphine. His doctor had even unofficially ‘prescribed’ the use of an occasional joint to relieve the nausea that the pain relief and his migraines provoked. Starsky was never sure if Hutch was really naïf enough not to recognize the “herb” on the kitchen window ledge; he never asked and his partner never told.

 

Right now it wasn’t just an occasional joint. He was smoking regularly but he knew that when the time came he knew just what he would have to do to put it behind him the same way he had stopped smoking a pack of Camels a day.

“If not,” he told his reflection in the mirror, “you’re gonna end up being busted by your own partner.” He was high enough to laugh at his own bad joke.

 

 

************************

The trial date was fixed for Monday. Starsky started to make his plans. He hated the idea of how much this was going to hurt Hutch but it was the best way. He finished writing the letter and licked the envelope to stick it down. He picked up his duffle and walked carefully down the steps. He had arranged for his mail to be forwarded to his uncle Al who would deal with his bills; the house payments were taken care of and Aunt Rosa had his spare set of keys.

He drove away, stopping to mail the letter at a small town on the route.  He left the car in a parking lot on the outskirts of the city and took a cab to the airport. He had to make two connections but by tomorrow he would be where he could put the Dave back in the Starsky again.

 

***********************

Hutch picked up his mail as he walked out of the door; he planned to read it while the court was gathering. Yesterday had been more traumatic than he expected; he had given evidence against murderers and rapists and any kind of low life before, but describing the moments when he had believed that his partner was dead was worse than anything he had ever done.  He had left the court room drained not knowing whether he wanted to go to The Pits or go home but knowing that he wanted to drown the whole ugly tasting business in alcohol. He couldn’t even talk to Starsky about it – until his partner gave evidence he was a witness and all communication between them once the trial started was proscribed.

 

Hutch pushed his way past the reporters and rubber necks and found refuge in one of the rooms reserved for discussions between lawyers and clients. He looked at the familiar handwriting and his heart skipped a beat.

 

_Hutch._

 

_By the time you read this I will have spoken to the DA so you don’t need to explain anything to him._

_I can’t face sitting in the box with people looking at me and pitying me for the state I’m in. I know you don’t see it – or if you do you love me too much to say so – but I’m busted and it shows._

_They don’t need my evidence. I can’t add anything to what Allison or the finance investigators will say about Gunther’s empire. You’ve already told the court why he wanted to get rid of us. _

_I can’t give evidence about the shooting – all I know about what happened is what you told me. I remember nothing about it._

_I’ve made a pretty good physical recovery but I need to deal with one more thing and I can’t do that in California – not if I ever want to be a cop again. And I do want to be a cop again. I’ve taken the books and stuff with me to study for the Lieutenant’s exams. I want you to do it too Hutch. I don’t want to find myself superior to you ever again (the six months when you first made detective was bad enough) and it’s time we both thought about the day when we can’t run after the bad guys any more. Oh yes; I fully intend to be able to run after them again. _

_I’m going where you won’t find me. Please don’t even try to. Of you love me, if you still trust me, you will do that much. Because, Hutch I love you enough to trust you not to let me down on this. _

 

_Forgive me for not telling you to your face. It’s the first time I’ve ever run out on someone without explaining to their face….I’m sorry but I can’t do this any other way._

 

_I love you Hutch. I need to know that when I come back you will be there to help me pick up the threads and start where we left off._

 

_Dave._

 

 

Hutch folded the pages carefully and placed them in the inside pocket of his jacket, close to his heart.

“I’ll try Starsky,” he whispered to the empty room, “I’ll try but I don’t know if I can keep that kind of a promise.”

 

Hutch walked into the courtroom just as the DA announced that he had “no further witnesses, your honor” and sat down.

 

 

 

 


End file.
